Emergent Teleology in Psychology, Physics and Biology
ABSTRACTAristotle, the inventor of biology, made final or teleological causation one of his four fundamental modes of explanation. Throughout the history of science, teleological modes of explanation have been employed quite commonly, most often in biology and in psychology and the other human sciences, but also in physics. In the modern period (by which I mean the sixteenth through the Read More ›
Chimp Deal
The animal-rights/liberation movement is living high on the hog these days. In the last election, for example, activists induced Florida voters to grant gestating sows a state constitutional right to be kept in a space large enough to turn around in. As a consequence, the two pig farms in the state that had used gestation crates to confine pregnant pigs Read More ›
Coming Soon to a Hospital Near You
This article, published by BreakPoint, mentions Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Wesley Smith: According to Wesley Smith of the Discovery Institute, futile-care theory is one of the most dangerous topics [under discussion] in contemporary bioethics. The rest of the article can be found here.
Clones and Rael-Politik
SO THE RAELIANS, who maintain that human life was the product of cloning by space aliens, now claim that their for-profit corporation, Clonaid, has cloned the first human baby, a healthy female named Eve. There is no proof of any kind to verify this, and most of the world is highly skeptical. It took nearly 300 tries before Dolly the Read More ›
Tax Fairness Fabrications
The predictable rants that the president’s tax proposals are unfair and benefit the rich have begun. The fact is that the president’s proposals make the tax code fairer by any reasonable standard. Most Americans would agree, as a matter of fairness, that taxpayers making equal income should pay the same tax; that legitimate business expenses should be deducted before calculating Read More ›
“Doc Knows Best”:
Original Article Who should have the right to decide whether you receive life-sustaining medical during a critical or terminal illness? Most would say with great confidence, “Me. Or, if I am unable to decide, then my family.” That should be true. Indeed, it used to be true. But in a growing number of hospitals, your right-to-decide is being taken away Read More ›
Perhaps the Next Big Idea Is… Auto-Mobility
In a recent tour of the transportation policy horizon, Seattle Times’ editorialist James Vesely offered an intriguing observation. “Environment-first groups have the big idea on their side But the other side has no competitive big idea. They talk capacity while the greens talk about how we live.” Transit theologians have hammered at the notion that auto use is morally wrong. Read More ›
Goodnight, Patients
Original article Sometimes the Powers That Be and the Powers That Wannabe try to bribe you directly. More often, and far more insidiously, they buy you indirectly, by offering to “save you money.” A drug reimportation bill, which passed the House this past week and is due for consideration in the Senate, seeks to do both. This item would make Read More ›
Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant!
Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit. Translation: To boldly go where no man has gone before. Go along with the authors of The Priveleged Planet, Senior Fellows Jay Richards and Guillermo Gonzalez as they boldly explore the wonder of Earth’s amazing location in the universe and why we’re extraordinarily positioned to peer into the heavens and discover its secrets. “The Read More ›